Does payment of an administrative fee create a permitted repayment right?

No payment should be assumed to alter the investment rules. Assess the actual agreement and treatment of fees and capital. As of September 7, 2026, the capital figures are US$1,050,000 or US$800,000 for qualifying targeted employment area or infrastructure projects. Statutory adjustments begin January 1, 2027; confirm the amount applicable to the filing.

Read the contractual basis

An extra charge is not an automatic exception to the risk requirement. Hypothetical example: an Osler owner of a welding and steel-fabrication shop is offered, for an extra charge, a capital-protection add-on under which the project promises to buy back the investment on a fixed date at the original amount. The add-on is presented as a fee for peace of mind.

The document that actually decides the question is the subscription or operating agreement, because a contractual right to a fixed repayment on demand or on a set date is the kind of arrangement that can defeat the requirement that capital be genuinely at risk. Paying for a guarantee does not license the guarantee. The fee itself also sits outside the investment: administrative and protection charges are not counted toward the qualifying capital, so the owner should confirm the figure actually contributed to the new commercial enterprise separately from everything paid to the sponsor.

The decision is whether to proceed with an offering that contains such a clause at all, and if the sponsor says the clause can be removed, to obtain the amended agreement before any funds move rather than a side letter afterwards. An ordinary expectation of profit or an eventual lawful distribution once the sustainment obligations are satisfied is different from a promised return; the owner should ask counsel which side of that line the specific wording falls on, and keep the answer in the file for the removal-of-conditions stage.